Apparatus for heating and ventilating buildings



(No Model.)

1. 1). SMEAD.

APPARATUS FOR HEATINGAND VENTILATING BUILDINGS, No. 261,879. Patented Aug. 1, 1882-.

= UNITED STATES- PATENT OF ICE.

ISAAC D. SMEAD, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND VENTILATING BUlLDl-NGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 261,879, dated August 1, 1882,

Application filed April 20, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC D. SMEAD, ofToledo,in the countyof Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain ImprovementsinHeating and Ventilating Buildings, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the heating and ventilation of buildings; and itconsistsin a novel arrangementoftheheatingor furnacechamber, the fines, and the cold-air duct, together with a valve for eaclrflue, by which I am enabled to simultaneously and by one operation shut off the supply of warm air and permit the entranceof cold air, shut OK the supply ofcold air and admit warm air, or admit warm and cold air mingled in any desired relative quantities.

- It further consists in so constructing and arranging the operating and controlling devices of the valves that each may be operated from the room or story in which the temperature is to be regulated by such valve.

In the accompanyingdrawings,Figurel represents a sectional viewof a portion of a building, passing through the heating-chamber and looking toward the air-fines, and Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the heating o'jrfurnace chamber and lower portion of one of the lines.

The primary object of my invention is to enable occupants of rooms to perfectly regulate and control the temperature of the rooms,and to prevent persons ignorant of the laws of ventilation and of health from shutting out the necessary supply of fresh air, as is commonly done where the ordinary registers are used.

To this end I adopt the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings,in

which- A represents a building provided with airflues B, a heating or furnace chamber, 0, and

a cold-air duct or inlet, D, opening into the furnace-chamber beneath the furnace E, as shown. Thefurnace-chamberisseparatedfrom the flues B by a wall, F, which is, however, provided with openings Gr at the top and openings H at the bottom of said chamber, by which communication is made between the chamber and the flues, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2, the upper openings being for hot air and the lower ones for cold air.

I represents a leaf or valve, of which there is one for each flue, hinged at its lower end or edge at the lower side of the warm-air opening G and adapted to be brought to a vertical position to close said openings, thereby establishing also an uninterrupted passage for cold air from below upward through the flue, or to be dropped down to an approximately-horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2, to close the flue B and prevent the upward passage of cold air, at the same time opening the passage G and permitting hot air to pass freelyinto and up the line. The valve or leaf may be adjusted to and held at any intermediate point, to permit a supply of both hot and cold air to pass up the flue, the inclination or adjustment of the leaf determining the relative quantities of hot and cold air. The valve or leaf Iis made somewhat longer than the width of theflue, so thatit may notfall below a given point. It will be seen that thevolumc of air thus permitted to ascend through each flue is essentially uniform and unvarying, whether it be all hot air, all cold 3.11, or a while the temperature is perfectly controlled it is not at the sacrif ceof ventilation; and pure air. It is of course to be understood that each flue is furnished withan independent valve. The air passing up the flues B is delivered to the rooms through grated openings J, which need not, and usually will not, be provided with valves or closing devices, the regulation of temperature being effected wholly by the valves I.

For the purpose of operating the respective valves, I provide for each a shaft or spindle, K, furnished at the outer end with a handwheel or knob, L, and extending-into or across the flue, as shown at Fig. 2; and I attach to this shaft or spindle one end of a chain or cord, M, the opposite end of which the free or moving end of the leaf or valve. It

will be seen that under this construction it is merely necessary to turn the shaft, and thereby wind up or unwind the chain or cord, to raise or lower the valve, as desired. essary, a pawl or catch, a, may be employed to prevent the shaft from being turned by the weight of the valve, as shown, the pawl engaging with a ratchet, b, on the shaft. The regulating shaft or spindle of each valve is is attached to" If nec- IOO placed in the room to which the flue controlled by said valve passes. It is apparent that the shaft or-spindle may be cranked or provided with aradial arm an d connected with the valve by a rod or wire. Being heated by the passage of hot air through it, the flue B will, by giving off its heat and rarefying the air entering it, cause the cold air to rise when the hot air is shut off, and a current being thus established, it will continue even after the flue be comes cool.

In order that the valve maybe closed against its seat firmly and with certainty, an arm or horn, c, is attached to or formed upon the rear face of the valve, and the chain or cord M is attached to the outer extremity thereof, as shown in Fig. 2. The strain or pull upon the chain will of course tend to bring the point of attachment of the chain to the arm into line with the pivot or hinge of the valve and the point at which the chain leaves the spindle or shaft K, thus throwing the valve forward in advance of said line and pressing it to its seat.

I am aware thata heater has been arranged within a chamber separated from the deliveryflue by a wall or partition having an upper and a lower opening, and furnished with a valve arranged to simultaneously open either of said openings and close the other to any desired degree, and this 1 do not broadlyclaim. I I, however, believe my arrangement of the valve to be new and better adapted to the end sought thansuch as have been heretofore proposed.

' I do not broadly claim a valve arranged to simultaneously cut off the flow of warm air and admit cold air, or to cut off the cold air and admit warm air; but I believe my construction and arrangement of the valve and its operating devices to benew.- Itis particularly to be noted that under my arrangement each flue is furnished with a valve capable of adjustment or regulation independently of the others; that when the cold air is permitted to enter the flue the warm airis not permitted to G and close the flue below it or to close the passage G and open the flue, as set forth.

2. In combination with a furnace-chamber and a flue, communicating as explained, the valve I, arranged, as shown and described, to control the delivery of warm and cold air to the flue, hinged at its lower end, and provided with an arm, 0, on its rear face, and a shaft or spindle located above the valve and connected with arm 0, as shown, whereby the movement of the shaft or spindle is caused to tightly close the valve against its seat.

3. In combination with opening G, the valve I, provided with a rearwardly-projecting arm, 0, and a chain connected with the outer end of said arm, and with a winding or elevating device above the same, whereby the valve is pressed firmly to its seat and caused to close the opening G when the chainis drawn upward.

4. In combination with the furnace-chamber, flue, air-inlet, and valve I, arranged as set forth and shown, a shaft or spindle above thevalve, connected therewith as explained, and provided with ratchet b, and the pawl 0, arranged to engage with the ratchet, and thereby to prevent the rotation of the shaft.

ISAAC D. SM EAD'.

Witnesses:

WALTER S. DODGE, WILLIAM W. DODGE. 

